BATON ROUGE- Starting in 2014, it will be illegal for health insurance companies to make people with pre-existing conditions pay higher rates or deny them coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Some clinics like Baton Rouge Primary Care treat patients who don't have insurance. The clinic allows them to pay on a sliding scale.

One patient told News 2 she hasn't had insurance for years.

"I went to several different insurance companies, big names," said Jessica Suire. "I was refused because of the pre-existing conditions. My asthma had gotten really bad, to where I couldn't walk to feet without getting out of breath. I mean that's scary, very scary."

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, about 129 million Americans have medical problems that are considered red flags for health insurance companies.